


I don't need to see the stars, she's all the constellations I could ever want

by lesbianquill



Series: we took this universe and made it our home [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Holby City
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Eventual Smut, F/F, S18E17 Serenity, in which everything is the same but also completely different, it is safe... for now, wives from different lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-13 11:15:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianquill/pseuds/lesbianquill
Summary: A great man once told Kate Stewart that there was an infinite number of universes. An indefinite combination of cause and effect, he said, where any number of things could happen. And yet, nobody had prepared her for the whirlwind that was Serena Campbell.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You know how I said that I was going to write myself a nice backlog before I dared post this? Ha. I have no self control. I live for the validation.
> 
> Anyway, after a whole lot of planning, yelling, and lighting up everyone's dashboards with sneaky details in the dead of night: here it is. I'm planning to follow the canon storylines for both Serena and Kate as much as I can whilst keeping them delightfully entwined. There's gonna be gaying. And aliens. And some nice cameos.
> 
> I can't give enough thanks and love to my complete angel of a beta MatildaSwan, who worked wonders on making this into something really special and managed to keep me (relatively) sane. Go and send her all your love! She's rad.
> 
> Without further ado: let us get our gay on.

There is no military ambulance that day.

There is still gossiping across the wards— to expect anything else would be absurd— but there’s no mention of any front line surgeons. No surprise visits from any of St James’ orthopaedic consultants. No extra bickering between a certain Mr. Self and his future son-in-law. The world keeps turning.

Serena Campbell still shows up to work with her arms full of files and Robbie tittering in her ear. Her mouth quirks into a smile at the not-so-subtle flirtation, the promise of a takeaway breakfast to get her through a day of arduous meetings and stacks of budget reports. He is sweet, in his own slightly clingy way, and Serena finds herself to be quite fond of him. He is a bit like a lost dog, she supposes, but a pleasant one all the same.

As pleasant as his company may be, it could not have come at a worse time. Her mind is all caught up in budget cuts and the effects of a unit already strained to its limits. That’s without mentioning the lack of proper trauma care on the ward. It hasn’t gone unnoticed, but she’s laden with responsibilities that she simply can’t keep up with, and he is definitely not helping.

Rather than notice she is stressed out of her mind, of course, or even offer to lend a hand, he instead suggests she skips work to run off with him. She can already feel the eye-roll forming.

It’s a tempting thought, to chuck it all in for the day and take some time away from the chaos, it really is— but Serena is far too sensible to drop everything, anything, for the sake of a man she’s not even sure she’s in love with. Serena Campbell is many things: bold, outspoken— sometimes even a little misguided, if she’s willing to admit it— but she is _not_ stupid.

Her train of thought is cut off by a stranger barrelling into her. Serena stumbles, curses, a couple of the files from the box in her hands tumbling to the floor. Robbie dives down to catch the fluttering pages, even with his hands full, leaving Serena to right herself as she stares down her assailant. Glares straight at her as if to say _not now, not today— don’t you dare._ That’s before she looks at her— _really_ looks— as the red behind her eyes fades and she sees that the woman is actually concerned about the way she’s just flung herself in their direction.

Serena’s breath catches in her throat; the insult she was conjuring dies with it. Lips part slightly as she stares in wonder into dark eyes, widened quite like her own, set deep into a beautiful face. Then her eyes begin to wander over a sharp nose, a pair of thin, frowning lips, the curve of a jarring cheekbone. A flurry of golden hair frames her face, soft curls whipped up by the breeze as well as their collision.

“Terribly sorry.” The stranger reaches out a hand to steady them both. Serena finds her footing and the woman offers her a soft smile, an apology wrapped up in the gentle curl of peach coloured lips.

Serena shakes her head. _That’s quite alright_ , she ought to say; adjusts the hat that’s been knocked askew in all the commotion instead. Gruffly pulls the box closer to her hip, and as she looks down, notices the stranger digging her hands into her pockets. It changes her stance completely— oozes power in a way that isn’t threatening, but enticing. She finds herself staring for longer than is strictly polite and snaps herself out of it.

Serena looks up at last to see the woman’s amused face and realises that she hasn’t said anything at all.

“Right— well— it’s quite alright. No harm done,” she finally stammers out. Sees the smug look on the woman’s face and adds, “Might I advise looking where you’re going in the future?”

She spots Robbie out of the corner of her eye. He’s still trying to juggle their breakfast in one hand and her dropped files in the other. He had been quite forgotten some time ago.

“Noted.” The stranger does a small mock-salute as she steps away, detaching herself from Serena while her hands find their way back into her pockets again. Walks away with a swish of her hair.

Serena rolls her eyes and watches as the woman walks off, long legs carrying her away to cause trouble elsewhere. She walks with purpose, poured into a suit that she barely even needs to look like she owns the world under her feet.

She tears her eyes away when she remembers Robbie is standing next to her. He shuffles the files back into the box with a sigh and Serena mumbles her appreciation as they turn the corner.

She glances over her shoulder to see the last flash of blonde at the edge of the car park. Serena wonders where she’s going, on those long, stalking legs. She thinks there might be something about her: something intriguing, something extraordinary.

 

* * *

 

 

A great man once told Kate Stewart that there was an infinite number of universes. An indefinite combination of cause and effect, he said, where any number of things could happen. Would happen. Have happened.

 _They’re all happening right now_ , Kate thinks as she sips on her coffee. She crumples the cereal bar wrapper in her hand and throws it in the bin next to her.

All Kate wants to know is which universe she would have to swap to get herself out of here. Or, more preferably, which she would have to swap to not be here at all.

The absence of one scandalous casualty brings another in its wake. There are no military ambulances but there is, however, a surge in chronon radiation coming from somewhere in the hospital. A fragment of something not quite human is embedded in a man’s right shoulder— something had hit him on his motorcycle as he was turning the corner. Or so she had been told. They didn’t know if he would make it.

Whether he survives is incidental. All she wants is to get inside and retrieve the shrapnel without causing a stir.

Kate does not like hospitals, never has— never felt at ease or well looked after in them. She’s endured enough on the field to know how to stitch her own cuts, even removed a bullet once or twice. There was nothing she despised more than the thought of someone else poking around inside of her. Much better to be at the hands of someone trustworthy— even if it had to be herself.

Still, work was work. Her purpose: dispose of the threat undetected. She can’t exactly waltz in there flashing her credentials— people talk so frivolously when there is an absence of twitter and television to keep them occupied— so she devises herself a plan: she’ll snatch the ID badge of the first doctor that walks past, use it to get herself through as many doors as she can, and bullshit her way through the rest. It was a simple idea, in theory. 

 _There’s one,_ she notices, watching intently as a box of files is placed on the roof of a car. Kate breathes out a short laugh as the top of a ridiculous hat appears. She stares over the top of her coffee cup as the woman moves into view. There isn’t an awful lot she can see from across the car park, but her mark certainly stands like a doctor, with the same air of authority Kate is so used to commanding in her own workplace. 

 _She is almost certainly the one._  

A man appears out of nowhere and Kate’s face falls. She’s not fond of doing these things in front of an audience. Her legs betray her mind, though, and suddenly she’s walking towards them, throwing the empty cup into the bin behind her as she moves away. There’s a noise to her left— the panicked beeping of the reversing car she’s wandered in front of— but she ignores it, eyes unwavering as she strides straight over to her with enough power to send the stranger teetering backwards.

Admittedly, Kate does feel a little bad for the woman when they collide, but then she’s reaching into her pocket, swiftly capturing the card between her fingers and slipping it into her own coat.

She prays that the man gawking next to her hasn’t noticed the theft. Or the way that time stops for a moment when they look at each other.

She expects her to be a bit miffed. She expects her to be annoyed. From the look on her face, she even expects her to shout at her clumsiness.

She doesn’t anticipate the way the woman looks at her: with a hint of quiet awe behind those deep eyes marred with panic.

When Kate apologises, it’s in earnest, because by the looks of it she’s just gone and made an already hard day even harder.

The woman stares back as though Kate has just sprouted an extra head. Pulls her hat back into place and Kate has to bite her lip to refrain from laughing. It’s an almost-comical, fluffy thing that makes her head look a lot smaller than it should be. It’s only a little bit endearing, mostly because the woman donning it looks like she could absolutely take her in a fight if she dared laugh. The silence drags, and Kate wonders if she said something wrong— or anything, really, she was more concerned with the task at hand— but then the woman is shaking her head and sending her on her way.

_Thank god for that._

As she walks off, she digs around in her pocket to retrieve her loot. _Ms. Serena Campbell,_  the badge reads, and Kate finds herself smiling. Whoever this Ms. Campbell was, her unknowing donation would not go unappreciated.

 

* * *

 

“ _Oh, for heavens_ —”

“Trouble in paradise?” There’s a knock at the door, then Raf’s popping his head into her office with a cautious smile. Serena sighs, and sets about digging through her handbag for the umpteenth time, convinced that she’s just not looking hard enough.

She looks up at him wearily. “Not as such.” Her answer is vague, mostly because she doesn’t really know how to answer _that_ question. She’s still quietly seething about Robbie’s over-eagerness to help. Anyone else probably could have been appreciative at the offer of trying to reunite her with her lost sister. _Well—_ she muses, _anyone else would have been out of their mind._ He had absolutely no right to go poking around in her history, and certainly not in making decisions about it behind her back. The information was hers to keep. Hers to sit on for as long as she wanted. If he was going to be like _that_ , she’d be sitting on it for a while yet. The whole thing feels suffocating, like she’s being backed into a corner. It’s all too much, too soon, coming from every angle. Serena just wants to breathe. “I’ve misplaced my badge. Must have happened outside when I bumped into that _bloody woman_.”

Raf lingers for a moment. Shifts on his feet before he steps inside, pushing the door closed behind him. “Look, about what I said in theatre—”

Serena cuts him off with a wave of her hand. She knew he meant well— even if his suggestions about forgiving Robbie had been the exact opposite of what she wanted to hear. It seemed that Raf was in agreement with him, but at least he wasn’t trying to push her into something she didn’t want. Over the table, he could see how much it was affecting her. Saw the tension in her face, saw how the thought of Robbie meddling in her business had her hands moving furiously in what was supposed to be a delicate procedure. “It doesn’t matter,” she says, even if it _does_ matter, because she’s so close to snapping completely. Telling everyone to mind their own bloody business, thank you very much, because if there’s one place she doesn’t want the delicate details of her private life talked about, it’s here.

“It’s just,” he pauses, and she knows that he’s only going to come out with something else to poison her mood, “Robbie’s still out there. Don’t you think it’s a good time to talk to him— maybe smooth things over? You can’t let him just sort all this out if you don’t want him to.”

“He’s still out there?” Serena asks bitterly, eyebrow raised. Raf nods. Gives a classic _I don’t really want to get into this_ _now_ kind of shrug, and she can tell she he’s regretting putting his foot in it. Always the mediator, he was, which is why Serena had always felt that he and Fletch were so well suited for each other.

She marches out onto the ward without a second thought.

 

* * *

 

 

Turns out Serena Campbell was the right choice, after all. She gets Kate through all the doors she needs, gives her a nice window to pop in and do her own quick scans on the patient, and allows her to get her job done in record time. Thankfully there’s no side effects that she can see, and the fragment the surgeons had pulled was nothing more than debris from a certain man zipping around in his blue box. She makes a note to keep an eye on the surrounding area— another rip in space and time is the last thing she needs, especially since Torchwood had dropped off the radar.

A job well done, she thinks. She’ll give herself a nice pat on the back and the rest of the day off.

As she turns to leave, she takes another glance at the picture of the doctor on the ID badge. It’s those eyes, that somehow manage to look straight at _her,_  even in the graininess of the photo, that convinces her to stay a moment longer. To track down this mysterious woman and return it to her in person.

It is what she deserves, after all, for being so unknowingly helpful.

She’ll make her way back to the door she came in. Follow the signs to the right ward from there. _Someone_ around here has to know where to find her, surely.

When she gets back to the reception area, she takes a moment to bask in her success. Even cracks a smile, until someone is storming past her and out of the door. _Christ._ She wonders what’s got him all caught up. That’s the thing with hospitals— there’s rarely a time that someone isn’t leaving either disappointed or devastated— and Kate weighs up which one he might be before something clicks in her memory. Wasn’t he the man from earlier? The one traipsing after Serena in the car park?

Before she has time to conjure up some kind of scenario that could result in him walking out like that, Kate spots her out the corner of her eye.

_Ms. Serena Campbell._

Her hoodie is clutched close to her chest, and she’s _running._ Kate doesn’t know what to do. She can’t hang around forever, but whatever seems to be going on between them isn’t something that she particularly wants to intrude on.

It’s now or never, she decides, pushing herself off the wall to intercept.

“Serena—” She calls after her, and to her surprise, she actually stops. Serena whips around to locate the source of the noise, and then Kate is in front of her. Suddenly, she feels useless. _Should have just left it at the front desk, instead of trying to play the hero—_

“Oh,” Serena says, as her brain makes the connection, “It’s you.” She looks antsy, and Kate knows she’s made a mistake in stopping her. Serena glances at the door, faltering, then turns back. Shakes her head just a little, like she’s reassuring herself. Kate can see the man walking off behind her. Then Serena _smiles,_ just a little, and everything seems to be just that little bit more okay. Perhaps she wasn’t cutting in like she’d thought she was.

She suddenly remembers the badge in her hand. She extends it towards her, pairing Serena’s smile with her own. “Your ID badge. Must have fallen out of your pocket when I bumped into you.”

“Ah, thank you,” Serena shoves it deep into the pocket of her scrubs. She seems a little more relaxed now, as though there’s a weight lifted from her shoulders. Then she’s looking back towards the door again, and Kate hesitates.

“Sorry, am I keeping you?” Kate asks, and then, before she can stop herself, “The one you were with earlier— he’s just taken off, if that’s who you’re looking for. In a _dreadful_ mood.” She winces as Serena’s face falls.

“Right, thanks for that,” she says dryly, before expelling a soft, irritated sigh. The hand she lifts to rub at her temple is small, delicate; Kate can’t help imagining how she’d look wielding a scalpel, hunched over a patient, moving so effortlessly across organs and arteries. She’s staring again, she can tell, because Serena is stammering through her sentences all of a sudden. “No, no— I suppose it doesn’t matter now. He’ll be all right. It’s— it’s on my orders, actually— I told him to go.”

“ _Oh,_ ” Kate says, surprised, her interest piqued. It isn’t really her place to comment, so she finds herself digging her hands into her pockets. Rocking back on her feet, trying to expel all of the conflicting energy she’s feeling every time she lays eyes on her, offering her a smile that’s somewhere between sympathetic and hopeful. “Could I maybe buy you coffee? To make up for earlier, I mean. You can tell me all about it, if you’d like.”

Kate doesn’t really know why she’s saying it, why Serena would ever trust some awkward, rude stranger with the details of her private life. Only Serena doesn’t seem to mind, even pulls her lips into half a smile.

“No, you don’t want to hear about all of that,” Serena deflects, and Kate is ready to dig herself into an early grave when she adds, “But I’ll be welcome to the distraction— if you’re buying.” She flashes just a hint of a smirk.

They fall into step with each other as they approach the cafe. Kate is most _definitely_ buying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at our gals gaying off into ~~the sunset~~ Pulses together. If you're enjoying this, feel free to sling me a comment! Y'all are always welcome to come and shout at me about this anytime over on my tumblr (mxquill), where I sometimes talk about this under the tag 'au: wives from different lives' (spoilers for future chapters tho). Anyway: we're in for the long haul, lads. Buckle up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena and Kate get to know each other a little bit. Our favourite ~~gay~~ surgeon does some research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for such a warm reception so far! 
> 
> We're moving into the UNIT audios now, slowly but surely. Other general references for Serena fit in here, but it's cool. Nothing episode specific.

Kate didn’t expect to find herself buying coffee for a mysterious stranger when she had woken up that morning. But now she’s sitting across from Serena, rolling her steaming cup between her hands, and everything feels like it is falling perfectly into place.

Serena is _radiant_. Her eyes remain focused on her, unwavering, bright and attentive. They sparkle as she speaks and crinkle when she’s excited. She’s still perfect when she furrows her brow as she thinks, or when she frowns, with deep-set lines etched into her skin— or when she smiles. When she _smiles_ , good god, Kate can’t remember the last time she saw a sight so completely encapturing. It takes her a good moment to look away, to collect herself, before she can even try to speak.

“So you’re a surgeon?” Kate asks rather lamely, eyeing the light blue scrubs that cling so nicely to the gentle curves of her body. Serena looks confused for a moment before she realises what she’s wearing. She nods. “That’s got to be grizzly,” Kate grins, but then she softens, adding in earnest, “Very brave— very noble.”

Serena looks nervous all of a sudden, dark eyes downcast as she breathes out a gentle laugh, a flash of teeth in her smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. It’s a job, just like anyone else. Although, not everyone finds themselves up to their elbows in all-sorts while they’re rooting around for someone’s ruptured spleen.” Kate grimaces, and Serena laughs again, low and delightful. “A-and you?”

There are a great deal of things that Kate could say. A great deal of lies that she has spent her life fabricating— hiding from lovers and kids and ex-wives. Yet when she looks at Serena’s eyes, soft and warm and welcoming, Kate can’t find it in her to spin another tall tale. Best to be direct and leave out the heroics, she decides.

“I’m a scientist.”

Serena seems impressed by that. If only she knew that Kate’s science involved fending off beings beyond her comprehension.

“Oh!” Serena exclaims, still looking straight at her as she takes a sip of her coffee. “What’s your field?”

“Ah,” Kate’s lips curl into a sly smile as she lifts her own drink, “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

It’s not a lie— not exactly. There were things Kate _could_ tell her, but then she’d be tempted to keep talking. Serena was easy to talk to— a delight, really— and there were far too many things Kate knew that could completely ruin things for the both of them. Kate had the power to collapse governments, send the whole world into panic, change the course of the human race. To tell Serena any of this: about the aliens, about UNIT, just to inevitably wipe her memory later... It would only be selfish. Not even Kate was that self-indulgent for the sake of a friendly gaze and an open heart.

There’s a small flutter of panic in her chest. Relationships outside of the workplace were complicated at best, if not impossible. She had tried the same charade her father had done with her. Failed, unsurprisingly. Tried to dance around the subject to save a marriage which was doomed to fail. How could she expect anyone else to understand? Someone so innocent, so untouched by the threat of alien life— there was always the threat of never coming home and never being able to explain why. Her work wasn’t just deadly, it was a death sentence, and she had destroyed far too many great things with far too many great people to travel that road again. No, she never really had time for friends— and no time at all for anything more than that.

“I know it’s not my place to pry,” Kate starts, filling the comfortable silence that had grown between them, “But your boyfriend— he seems sweet. Very eager to help you out earlier.”

The corners of Serena’s mouth dip into a frown. “I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind. After the morning I’ve had, you’re very welcome to him.”

Kate can’t stop herself from barking out a nervous laugh. “Not really my area, I’m afraid.”

There’s a pause.

“Relationships?”

She shakes her head with a wry smile. “While I’m sure my ex-wife would agree with you, I was going to say men.”

Another pause, and it seems like Serena doesn’t know where to look. “Men?” There’s the moment of realisation, and suddenly her cheeks look a little pinker, accompanied by the quirk of an eyebrow as she finally registers exactly where Kate is coming from.“Oh, _men_. Well, there’s— there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Serena is sitting up a little straighter now— Kate is absolutely ready to roll her eyes at the irony of such a thing— as though something between them had changed.

“I know.” The words come out more defensively than Kate had anticipated. Serena swallows, brow creasing, and Kate curses inwardly. There she goes again— doing the wrong thing. She wasn’t cut out for this.

“So there’s no— no _girlfriend_ , then?”

The hand that’s lifting her cup stills, and Kate glances up from the brim to look at Serena, who seems to be struggling to focus her gaze.

“No girlfriend, no,” she says at last, voice thick, before she takes a long sip of coffee. Savours it with a hum as she leans back in her seat. “I think the kids are glad for it. Besides, I don’t get a lot of time— not in my job. I’m not really sure what I’d do with one.”

Serena nods slowly. “I don’t even want know what Elinor thinks.”

“Your daughter?” Kate wonders aloud. Wonders in her head what kind of mother might Serena be when she’s not at work; when she’s subdued, away from the raucous atmosphere of hospital life. It’s an odd feeling, but Kate wants to know— yearns to peel back the uptight layers surrounding her to see what lies beneath.

Serena softens, and a smile blooms. “Yes— but she’s not at home. University. Journalism. I still can’t wrap my head around _why_ for the life of me.” She pauses as she drinks, before adding with a chuckle, “Wait a minute, _you’re not sure what you’d do with one?_ Rather sounds like you’re talking about a _dog,_ not a woman.”

“Does it?” Kate says, and then she gives it a second thought, ending in an eruption of honking laughter. For a moment, she thinks that Serena is about to spit out her mouthful of coffee. She wouldn’t blame her. It really was an atrocious laugh. All those years her father had called her Tiger— he would have done just as well calling her _Goose._

And yet, Serena doesn’t look like she’s about to run for the hills. There’s a twinkle in her eye, her smile dancing across her lips as she watches with a peculiar fondness.

A fondness that’s cut off all too soon, much to Kate’s dissatisfaction. There’s a call of Serena’s name from across the foyer, and the figure of what Kate assumes is a colleague appears, hovering over the table.

“Ric Griffin’s waiting for you,” He says as he draws near. His eyebrows knit together as he looks between the two women, seemingly surprised to spot Kate sat opposite Serena, like he was expecting someone else. She can’t help but feel like an outsider— it’s entirely obvious that she doesn’t belong there. “Where’s Robbie?”

_Ah_. He had expected the boyfriend. Obviously he thought the two of them had some patching up to do, even if Serena didn’t.

Serena gives him a thin lipped smile. “Gone home, like I asked. Raf, can you... can you go and tell Mr Griffin that I’ll be up in a minute?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to make you late,” Kate interjects, and Serena’s eyes snap to her.

She’s not ready to let her go.

Kate hesitates before she goes digging in her pockets again. Pulls out a simple black card with silver lettering, sliding it across the table. “Here,” She says, offering it to her, “My card. For when you want to talk about it.”

Then, she’s standing, coffee in hand, ready to make a dash for the exit. In any other scenario, she would have ended it with a firm handshake. She has no idea what to do with Serena. Instead, she beelines for the door with little more than a hurried goodbye.

_Like a dog, not a woman,_ she remembers, and as she walks away, she finds herself smiling all the way home.

 

* * *

 

_Kate Stewart. Chief Scientific Officer. UNIT._

Then eleven little numbers— eleven digits that are more important than anything Serena has ever seen in her life. She carefully pockets the card on the way back upstairs, remembering to put it somewhere safe for later.

And she does: filing it into her purse to stop it from getting crumpled in the bottom of her handbag, then proudly displaying it on the fridge next to her other important items when she gets home. It’s not even a to-do, unlike most of the things hastily shoved under magnets and forgotten about. It’s a promise.

The business with Robbie has since been resolved, but Serena’s mind is still turning, not even quelled by the generous measure of Shiraz she pours for herself.

As it turns out, Robbie’s digging had landed him with a wealth of information. Her sister might be dead, but there’s still hope, wrapped up in a single name.

_Jason._

There was a whole life that she had yet to learn the intricacies of. A whole new world of memories to explore. Although she’s a little scared of it, the idea is _utterly_ thrilling.

Serena eyes the fridge for the fifth time that evening.

She wills herself to forget about Kate Stewart. Reasons that she has so many other things to be thinking of. Like Robbie— things were going well with him now, weren’t they? And the exciting prospect of adding a new nephew to her life. Even work wasn’t _so_ terrible. Definitely exhausting— taxing at the best of times— but never terrible.

Eventually, she does forget, if only for a few days. She lets Kate drift to the back of her mind, ever present but always in the background.

The rest of the week brings new challenges. Juggling work and home— namely Jason— who barges into her life head-on with a whole new set of rules she has still yet to learn. Part of her asks herself if she is ready for all of this so soon, but he is sweet and kind and she wants to try, wants to adapt to fit his boundaries and his schedules, as tricky as they might be. She finds him difficult to navigate sometimes, especially in the beginning, but reminds herself that he is who he is: her nephew. He fills a space in her heart she didn’t quite know was there to begin with. He is direct and curious and somewhat overwhelming, but Serena knows that all of this must be harder for him than it is for her, especially with his Asperger's thrown into the mix. He has lost a mother. She has lost nothing more than a stranger.

She lasts until the weekend. Then she finds herself wandering over to pluck the little black card from its place between gift receipts and shopping lists, thumb gently tracing the silver letters as she makes her way back to the sanctuary of the sofa.

What was UNIT, exactly? She remembers something vague— something she’d heard on the news, maybe— but nothing that comes to mind. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and suddenly she’s pulling the laptop onto her knee to find out just who this Kate Stewart really is. Was it weird, googling her possible future friends? Probably, but Serena doesn’t care. She wants— no, she _needs_ to know.

There’s a website, at least, which Serena sits and pours over for a good while despite the fact that it’s horrifically outdated. The tagline grabs her attention immediately: _Any threat. Any location. Protecting humanity no matter how far it takes us._ The history page only manages to confuse her further— all this talk about ‘the security of humanity’ and ‘un-territorial incursions’ has her wondering if she’s wandered into some kind of weird nationalist propaganda website. She’s got half a mind to call up Kate and give her a stern talking to, but then again, she still doesn’t have half a clue what she’s actually reading. Surely she’s just looking too far into this. It all seems a bit vague and ominous for her tastes— and deathly _boring._

“ _UNIT now has over five decades' experience in facing threats beyond conventional combat,_ ” She reads aloud, pausing with raised eyebrows to take a steady gulp of wine, “ _Everything we do is without limits, and our forces frequently go beyond normal geographical borders in our duties._ ”

They sound thorough, if a little over-dramatic. So Kate is with the armed forces. Now that Serena thinks about it, the idea doesn’t seem to unfathomable. The way Kate carries herself, presents herself with such authority and reason; it isn’t hard to imagine her working with troops. Commanding them, even.

_A military scientist_ , she ponders, _so that’s why she was so reluctant to talk about work._ Yet Kate doesn’t seem the one to be some stuffy chemist hunched over a microscope in some dusty lab all day. She seems like she could run rings around them.

There’s definitely more to Kate Stewart than she’s letting on. More than this job, which sounds far too mediocre for someone so memorable.

With a yawn, Serena clicks away to a tab marked ‘Press briefings’. That should give her some answers, wouldn’t it? But then her eyes scan over an entry titled ‘Alien Life Confirmed’. She stares at it for a good moment.

_Right, well—_ she closes the internet browser after that, pours herself another glass of wine— _that’s quite enough of that for one evening._

 

 

* * *

 

“Again.”

Kate can do better. She knows she can. Her hand-to-hand combat needs work, and she knows it, chastises herself for it. It’s the knowledge that her body isn’t what it used to be that makes her blood boil. That maybe the age and the kids and the hours of exhausting work is getting to her more than she thought.That perhaps it’s time to slow down a bit.

_No._ She won’t slow down. She _can’t_. She’s far too resilient for that. They’ll have to drag her out of this job kicking and screaming, she thinks with a determined grin. Dives back against the trainer with all the fury of her insecurities. All of the _what ifs_ and _you can’ts_ until her knuckles are bruised and bloodied and she is bent over, panting, wiping the sweat from her brow.

“Better. We’ll work more on it tomorrow.”

She doesn’t remember the door opening and closing behind her. Is too caught up in her head to notice the trainer walking away, leaving her standing there on her own to contemplate.

There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s physically able. In her prime, more or less— or rather, she would be, if the weight of her thoughts weren’t so irritatingly overbearing. As she glances upwards, she blinks at the reflection in the training room’s floor-length mirror. Tilts her head to the side as her eyes fall over this _stranger_ , body taut and strong but so very tired of it all. What had happened to her? To the woman whose eyes had held so much wonder, who had been so full of love for the world and everything that lay beyond it? Who had flushed with excitement as she faced the man— the Doctor— who had shaped her entire life?

That was, of course, before the strain of a messy divorce. Before the kids became distant and Kate had retreated, back into herself and her work and of the things that she had promised herself were more important than the effects they had on her body. Maybe someday she could gain back that spark.

Maybe someday she would believe she deserves it.

Eventually, she finds herself in the lab. It’s where she feels safest. She tries to ignore the half-hidden— but most certainly heated— looks she receives as she pushes the door open. Watches as nervous juniors exchange glances from behind their stations, but she knows they’re looking. Welcomes it reluctantly, only because there’s nothing that boosts her self esteem quite like the idea of a dozen young women undressing her with their eyes. It’s nice to know she’s still wanted.

Osgood frowns as Kate hops up onto the stool beside her.

“You’ve got to start wrapping your hands, you know,” She chides, pushing her glasses up her nose as she starts rooting around for the gauze in one of her drawers. Returns with alcohol and bandages and cotton swabs, as well as a bar of chocolate for good measure. “You’ll do yourself a real injury. The last thing you want is a sprain. Or a fracture.”

“There’s no time for that on the field,” Kate replies through a mouthful of Dairy Milk, and to her surprise she can hear Osgood echoing her words with the tiniest shake of her head.

They’ve had this conversation more times than she can remember. Always going around in the same circles. But it’s _true_ — there’s no time for safety or sports bras (or _yoga pants_ , a garment that she is still very much trying to wrap her head around the point of, outside of drawing a _lot_ of attention to her backside) when there’s seconds between life and death. All this preparation seems far too unrealistic when it comes down to it. Not only that, but she quite likes the pain— enjoys how the bruises bloom over her skin, the scabs that form and heal and remind her that she is still human.

Sometimes she wonders if she is the only human one left. It reminds her of Serena’s smile, how unguarded she seemed— someone who just _was_ , instead of being wrapped up in all of this madness, constantly looking over her shoulder for any signs of danger.

Serena was someone who kept grabbing her attention, too, because suddenly Osgood is off on a tangent that Kate hasn’t paid any attention to at all. She winces as the dried, crusted blood is wiped clean from her hands, looking up at Osgood as she rambles on about some project that Kate was no doubt the reason for in the first place.

“You’re... you’re not listening at all, are you?” Osgood says flatly.

Kate shrugs, smiles, shakes her head. “Sorry. Just thinking.” After a moment’s silence, she remembers what else had brought her here, minus the first aid and the promise of Osgood’s secret stash of sugary treats. “Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you. Those new Devlin Futuretech 3D printers— do you remember?”

“Yes, I signed for one just the other day. Haven’t had chance to look at it yet. How come?”

Kate cocks her head. Wonders what Osgood might look like in something other than a jumper and a lab coat. If there’s enticing curves underneath all those layers that can be wrapped up in the tight fabric of a low-cut dress, long legs exposed, trainers exchanged for a delicate heel. She could look quite nice, Kate thinks, quite inviting. It’s a subject teetering on the edge of inappropriate, and now is _not_ the time to possibly fall into the trap of thinking of her colleagues in any way that is less than polite. God, she really needs to find herself another hobby. That, or someone to take her sexual frustrations out on.

She clears her throat, pulling her thoughts out of the gutter at last. “They’re launching next week. I couldn’t pry you out of the lab for the promo event, could I? I could do with your expertise.”

Osgood ducks her head, a warm blush spreading over her cheeks as she lets go of Kate’s hands, withdrawing a little too quickly for someone who was usually so steady, so careful. “I don’t know, it’s not really my thing.” Anyone would think that she was _embarrassed_.

Kate flexes her fingers. The ache is starting to set in now, but it’s nothing she can’t handle. (The steady thrum of pain she’ll feel tomorrow, however, is a completely different story.)

“Suit yourself,” she replies, snagging another row of chocolate as she pushes herself back onto her feet, “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

As she swans away, she slips the invitation from her pocket, leaving it on the desk for Osgood to think about later.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t just Osgood's opinion on the technology that Kate was hoping for, but her company itself. Kate didn’t mind the events so much, but the small talk was unbearable. There was nothing worse than a room full of men that thought they knew better than her. Who would look down their noses as she walked in the room. Who would think of her as something to look at rather than a mind to challenge. The idea of it all made Kate's skin crawl. Having someone on her arm, though— well, that idea seemed a lot more bearable than a night spent alone entertaining dull investors.

Something would come around, Kate reassures herself. She was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, the Kate angst will be worth it in the end. The next chapter is definitely sure to be a fun one, though!


End file.
